rage
Latest
Carmack: Xbox 360 Rage 'a little blurry,' 'key scenes' same as PS3
How many DVDs does it take to screw in a light bulb? ... Are we talkin' a Mega Texture light bulb that casts penumbra shadowing?In an update to id Software's data dilemma, John Carmack tells Tom's Games, "We're pretty much resigned to the fact that we're going to make [Rage] fit onto two DVDs on the 360." In other words, Microsoft isn't about to write off the steep royalties that allegedly add up with each additional game disc. The good news is you'll only have to whine for mom to swap your Xbox 360 discs once. The bad news, as headlined last week, is that Rage for Xbox 360 will supposedly look worse than the PlayStation 3's Blu-ray version due to data compression. But how much worse?"All of the key scenes, the things anyone is going to take a screenshot of are going to look exactly the same on both platforms," Carmack explains. "They'll get the high quality compression. But if you go into some areas in the wasteland, like behind a fence where nobody will typically go and explore, this is where the 360 version may look a little blurry compared to the PS3." We hear id's been sweeping some artifacts under the rug too. And watch out for those jaggies hiding beneath the bed!
Carmack says Rage will look worse on 360 on 2 DVDs
During the QuakeCon keynote, id Sofware's programming wizard John Carmack made it known that the Xbox 360 version of id's upcoming Rage will look worse than it's PC, Mac, and PS3 counterparts. The reason, according to Carmack, is purely a compression issue and "has nothing to do with the power of the Xbox 360 hardware." The compression needed to squeeze the game onto two DVDs will apparently affect the visual fidelity, and Carmack noted that the royalty fee that a third disc would require is too high. Carmack added that he hoped Microsoft would "make a concession."Given that Rage is likely to be a very high profile title and that Microsoft has been known to give assistance to developers -- specifically, working with Capcom to accomodate Street Fighter II HD -- it's at least possible they may do the same for id. We're fairly certain the company probably isn't too keen to see a multiplatform title look noticably worse on its platform either. Here's hoping MS sees the light.[Via Joystiq] Gallery: RAGE
First official RAGE screens feature marvelous mutants
click to enrage After months of teasing us with crummy off-screen snaps of its forthcoming "post-apocalyptic open-world shooter," id Software has evidently heard us shouting "Show us your RAGE!" (in our best Raging Raven impersonation) and caved in. Behold: two nice, high-res screens of the game. Yep, two. But at least they're really purty.Some on staff are wowed by the textures. Others are happy to see that Sloth from The Goonies is still getting work. Still another faction here at Joystiq HQ is frantically checking Pricewatch in hopes of scoring some good deals on the hardware upgrades they'll need to play this beast at 2 billion x 1 billion resolution on their PCs.%Gallery-28861%
John Carmack says Blu-ray offers better graphics
Right now, the PS3 version of id's upcoming shooter, Rage, will offer superior graphics performance on PS3 than Xbox 360. Not because of sheer horsepower, but because of storage. The game is shaping up to be a three disc game, a costly proposition due to Microsoft's licensing fees. Textures would need to be compressed "to fit the game's assets on two DVDs."Microsoft may have to rescind any fees for additional discs, as it's becoming evident that more developers will require more space in the future. For example, how much compression will Square Enix use for the 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII if making multi-disc games becomes too costly? In the future, we're likely to see more games take advantage of the sheer space offered by Blu-ray disc.[Via Joystiq; Thanks, stoo!]
Carmack: Rage to look worse on 360 if limited to two DVDs
Fanboys, start your engines! According to id Software's resident genius John Carmack, the developer's upcoming title Rage could actually look worse on Xbox 360 "due to the compression needed to fit the game's assets on two DVDs," reports Shacknews.Evidently royalty fees associated with a third disc would make the project financially unviable, so Carmack's looking to Microsoft to bite the bullet and rescind the fee or suffer the consequences (read: a multiplatform AAA title that looks worse on 360). Perhaps, unsurpringly considering the large size of the game's texture files, Carmack doesn't think that Doom 4 or Rage will make their way to digital distribution anytime soon. [Thanks, Anonim]
Rage trailer, now with EA logo
EA pimped its partnership with id Software today by debuting a (somewhat) new trailer for Rage, the first spawn of the id Tech 5 engine. This is only the second brief glimpse we've caught of the shooter-with-wheels (and the first in nearly a year!), so it's a bit disappointing to see some of the same imagery being recycled these many months later. But damn, when a game is dripping with this much butter, we don't really mind the double dips.
Electronic Arts and id Software form partnership
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Electronic_Arts_and_id_Software_form_partnership'; Id Software creator John Carmack just announced at Electronic Arts' press conference that it has partnered with the publisher. The Quake and Doom creator has long used Activision as a publisher, but we wonder if things got bitter after the travesty that was Quake Wars console ports. Id and EA? What a great ... idea?Update: The fruits of the partnership are beginning to bud as EA re-announces Rage, "an all-new take on the first person shooter" for the PS3, Xbox 360, PC and Mac. Note much else new is revealed about the game, which was named last August, but look for more info at QuakeCon.
WWI '08 Death Knight Demo: General Impressions
We learned at the Q&A panel on Saturday that Death Knights will be starting at a new area just off Eastern Plaguelands called Ebon Hold, but for now, it remains unimplemented. Thus, these demo Death Knights start at Tirion Fordring's house in the west of Eastern Plaguelands.On Death Knight Gear and Gear Mechanics: They start with a complete outlay of green gear with DPS Warrior type stats: strength, agility, critical strike rating, and stamina. Their sword itself is blue quality 2 hander named the Massacre Sword. It does 127-191 damage at at a speed of 3.1 seconds, giving it 51.3 DPS. It also provides 22 strength and 23 hit rating. It should be noted that the gear did not have spellpower, and it doesn't look like Death Knights will need it at all. Almost every spell that did magic damage specifically stated that the damage was modified by attack power. This is perfectly in line with Blizzard's recent trend to simplify and consolidate gear, which they discussed in relation to Retribution Paladins at Saturday's class panel. Perhaps we'll even see this mechanic show up on other magical melee hybrids in the future. The Death Knight came loaded with 6 runes on their rune weapon bar: 2 Blood Runes, 2 Unholy Runes, and 2 Frost Runes. Talents points were unavailable with this demo, although we could see the talent descriptions themselves. Death Knight Starting Spells and Playstyle: The Death Knights started with a few basic skills: Blood presence:Requires level 55Costs 1 Blood RuneInstant cast, 1 second cooldownDescription: Strengthens the Death Knight with the presence of blood, increasing damage done by 15% and healing the Death Knight by 4% of damage dealt. Only one presence may be active at a time. Blood Strike:Requires level 55Costs 1 Blood RuneInstant cast, 1 second cooldownMelee rangeDescription: Instantly strike the enemy, causing 60% weapon damage plus 55 for each disease effect on the target.Icy Touch:Requires level 55Costs 1 Frost Rune Instant cast, 6 second cooldown20 yard rangeDescription: Deals 217 to 235 Frost damage modified by attack power and reduces the target's ranged, melee attack, and casting speed by 15% for 20 seconds.Death Coil Requires Level 55Requires Runic PowerInstant cast 30 yard rangeDescription:Unleashes all available runic power, causing up to 460 shadow damage modified by attack power to an enemy target or healing up to 460 damage from a friendly undead target.Death GateRequires Level 55Costs 1 Unholy Rune10 second cast, 15 minute cooldownDescription: Returns you to Ebon Hold (Note: Since Ebon Hold is not yet implemented, in the demo it returned you to Tirion Fordring). Death GripRequires level 55Costs 1 Unholy RuneInstant cast, 35 second cooldown.30 yard rangeDescription: Harness the unholy energy that surrounds and binds all matter, drawing the target toward the Death Knight and forcing the enemy to attack the Death Knight for 3 seconds.Plague Strike Requires level 55Costs 1 Blood Rune and 1 Unholy RuneInstant cast Melee rangeDescription: A vicious strike that deals weapon damage plus 37 and plagues the target, dealing 350 shadow damage over 12 seconds. Casting these spells uses up the listed runes, which have a cooldown of 10 seconds. Our (lucky) play tester reported that the system felt a bit like having 3 seperate mana pools with their own spells, but that the pacing seemed to work well, and that she was now interested in actually trying one out in when beta rolls around where she hadn't been before. Introducing the Knights of the Ebon Hand After roaming about a bit and killing stuff, Elizabeth stumbled upon Light's Hope Chapel. This venerated base of the Argent Dawn had some new guests known as the Knights of the Ebon Hand, lead by a night elf named Siouxsie the Banshee, a Death Knight trainer. It's likely, of course, that these NPCs will be gone and moved to Ebon Hold once it's implemented, but for now, they gave us a sneak peek at the new Death Knight faction and some of the spells Death Knights will get post-55.
Forum post of the day: Rage against the authenticator
Alright, so the splash screen mystery is dramatic. Whatever the important announcement is, I don't think they could come up with one that makes me happier than the new authenticator. I will be first in line to buy mine once it comes out. It seems that most of us are with me. We've been clamoring for better authentication, and we're going to get it. A one-time charge of six and a half bucks for an extra layer of security seems like a smoking deal to me. It hasn't occurred to me to be bothered by the price. Tuhrell of Malrone believes that the authenticators should be distributed by Blizzard for free. Vallana of Thaurissan is on a short list of responders in the thread that agreed with the original poster. She believes that her $15/month is enough to spend on WoW and is "not retarded enough to get hacked so I really don't need it."
Phat Loot Phriday: Rod of the Sun King
It seems to me that this proc is pretty singular -- after a little bit of searching, I can't find any other weapons that have anything like it. If you can, let us know in the comments below.Name: Rod of the Sun King (Wowhead, Thottbot, WowDB)Type: Epic One-hand MaceDamage/Speed: 189-352 / 2.70 (100.2 DPS)Abilities: Increases attack power by 52. Chance on hit: gain 10 energy or 5 rage. This is the proc (short for procedure, from the programming world, though it's come to mean a number of other things) that really makes this mace stand out as a choice pic for Rogues or DPS Warriors -- the proc rate seems to be around 3 procs per minute, which is a substantial amount of energy and rage coming back to the user. Unfortunately, it also seems there's a short cooldown on the proc, which means you can't have a bunch of procs in a row, and get a bunch of free energy or rage back to back. Still, this weapon provides a pretty steady source of extra Warrior/Rogue fuel, and it's exceptional for that reason. How to Get It: Drops from Kael'thas -- the Tempest Keep version, not the Magisters' Terrace one. The drop rate is somewhere between 15 and 20%, but the proc on this weapon makes it pretty specific -- only Warriors or Rogues would ever be able to use it to its fullest, and even then, it's definitely not a tanking weapon. Rogues may be tempted to switch to a Mace spec just to use this, but Warriors would only need it for a DPS set.Druids, unfortunately for them, have no use for this weapon, even the bear kinds. Since the proc requires a "chance on hit," and bear Droods don't actually hit anything with their weapon (just their paws), it'll never proc for them. Blizzard might have been a little more giving on that one, but as it is, this weapon doesn't help bears at all.Getting Rid of It: Sells to vendors for 14g 59s 25c, disenchants into a Void Crystal. There will be other, better weapons you find on your way up the raiding ladder (and while the DPS on this is nice, the high-end Arena gear beats it), but the proc on this weapon is almost enough to keep it anyway.
Scattered Shots: Got mana?
Scattered Shots is temporarily subtitled "Scattered Thoughts" this week, as David goes off on a speculative tangent. Perhaps all this expansion leakage is causing a leak in his brain too, but hey, a little bit of intellectual pondering never hurt anyone, right? This column is for hunters, by the way -- but, yeah... you knew that.After writing last week's article about hunter problems and predictions, I got to thinking about how hunters use mana, and reflecting on the question of whether hunters should be using mana or not. Hunters have many things in common with classes like rogues and warriors, such as doing physical damage, and yet they have much in common with mages and warlocks as well, such as being vulnerable to mana-draining abilities. This issue is vague enough that my observations here can only be considered personal opinions, and they won't be of interest if all you want from this column is a list of the greatest gear and talent builds. But for the speculative among us, there's lots to discuss here.
Vote for the best piece of advice!
Last week I asked you to leave a comment with tips of anti-advice you could give to players. Things like "Be sure to move in the flame wreath so you're not cold when the blizzard hits!" or "Just walk up to Archimonde, he won't agro until you hit him." You all responded in force and gave lots of good tips and pieces of advice. Now for fame and no-fortune, lets vote for the best one!I'll close the voting next weekend and announce the winner on Monday April 21st. Vote now! I did! %Poll-12641%
GDC08: Surviving the war of words in 'The Future of Story' session
First off, kudos to the GDC organizers for putting such different-minded people together for "The Future of Story" panel, which ended up being an insightful and vitriolic debate. The panel, hosted by indie writer Deborah Todd, included Saber 3D's Matthew Karch and Michael Hall (Time Shift), Silicon Knights' Denis Dyack (Too Human), Eidos Montreal's Mary DeMarie (previously: Myst III, IV and Dungeon Siege), Matt Costello (7th Guest) and Director of id Software Tim Willits.A focus of the panel was the the dichotomy of story and gameplay, with both Dyack and Karch taking opposing viewponts and everyone else scattered somewhat in the middle. Early on, Karch asserted his view that some genres don't need to value story as much, citing Call of Duty 4 as a game where no one cared about the story. Later, he summed his viewpoint up best saying, "My whole argument is, it doesn't need to be a story written by Steinbeck, it needs to be someone who just keeps the game moving on."Said Dyack, "In five to ten years, there will not be a shoter genre. It's gonna be more literative -- horror, science fiction, etc." When Karch asked if Bruckheimer would go away (referencing the "high-octane" film producer), Dyack retorted that "He's McDonald's, thats what he is. and people love McD's." The back and forth continued, culminating in the following exchange:Dyack: "We should still aspire to this. you could have bubble gum like, Transformers [the film] for example, but in the end its what entertains."Karch: "I'll take bubble gum."
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Rage and how to use it
The Care and Feeding of Warriors is as always here for you, the reader, oh and also because Matthew Rossi is some kind of demented idiot who will do something like get out of tanking a raid and then spend two hours grinding on some Blade's Edge quests on his draenei warrior before logging onto his tauren for some PvP. We figure it's best to let him do all his rambling about the class in one place before he has an aneurysm. Reader Arnold Luschin emailed in recently with what seemed to me a worthy topic for this week's column. Rather than mangle what he said, I'll reproduce it here.Having played a druid to 70, and done a lot of tanking, I am familiar with aggro/rage etc, but I have a warrior specific question for you. Could you possible cover the basics of warrior tanking/fighting ability rotations (i.e. the names of the abilities, and the best time to use them in tanking and grinding/questing)? E.g. for warriors, one would use sunder whereas for us bear tanks the most equivalent ability is lacerate (which we incidentally don't get till about level 66 or so...).And the answer is, sure, I can do that. The first caveat is that warriors tend to be the twitchiest tanking class, especially as you first learn the class. It can often feel like you have to mash buttons constantly in order to hold onto your aggro lead, and even then adds will often peel away from you when they'd stay right in place for a bear or paladin tank. It takes time to really learn and get comfortable with the somewhat frenetic style of the class, and to a degree this translates out into soloing or questing, depending on what spec you're using. I'd suggest checking out Tankspot and browsing the forums, although the theorycrafting can get pretty thick over there. This article is one of my favorites, though. Bookmark it.
Scott Jennings on how to make PvP not suck
Just in case any of us design a PvP ruleset for a massively multiplayer online game, Scott Jennings has helpfully posted a 13-step guide to "PvP done right" on his personal blog, BrokenToys.org.It's a potent mixture of common sense, personal opinion, and thousands upon thousands disagreeing that classes are needed. It's a great primer, aphorisms or not, and written wonderfully. Put simply, PvP in a game needs to work -- if it's an impossible concept or impossible to implement, nothing else matters. Personally, I'd go as far as to say the simpler the concept, the better the execution -- of course, that's a huge sweeping statement, but be it Team Fortress 2 or World of Warcraft or Chess, the depth doesn't come from the rules, it comes from the implementation. Except Cricket.All decisions will upset someone. It's just about having a realistic, well-defined goal for PvP in your game and going from there -- and accepting that there will always be an awful lot of criticism, rage, and Fury.
Theorycrafting: putting Rage to the test
There are times, and it happens with almost every game released, when the description of a certain game mechanic or ability is ambiguous enough that players are left unsure of exactly what it does in certain specific game situations. When the devs aren't handy to provide direct clarification, there is a certain subsect of the gaming population that likes to engage in theorycrafting, grabbing large chunks of data to see how closely abilities work in practice to the numbers set forth on their tooltips or in the patch notes. Among the only solid theorycrafting I've seen so far for Tabula Rasa is from the folks over on the Tabula Spot forums, where among the many things they're working, is on figuring out which Logos abilities stack with Rage.So far, the results don't look terribly promising. Neither Lightning Discharge nor Shrapnel show a statistically significant difference in damage when Rage is activated (and here we seem to be talking about the nerfed Rage on the PTR). This seems to conflict with the Rage tooltip, which says in part, "Utilize the power of Logos to increase the damage done by your attacks." Interestingly, while Rage doesn't appear to work with Logos abilities, it does work with hand-to-hand. Methinks they should consider amending the tooltip to reflect the way it actually works.
TR devs further clarify respec
Never let it be said that developers have it easy. Every word they say in the public forum is carefully analyzed, scrutinized, and questioned at great length. With all those eyes on that relatively small volume of communication, sometimes things get confused and people need clarification. We can scarcely imagine the flood of emails Destination Games has gotten questioning the details of the impending skills changes in Tabula Rasa, including the respec that is to go along with it. For the second time in under a week, they've addressed the issue on their official website.Straight from the horse's mouth, the respec (which is NOT included in the build currently on the PTR) will not only be available to everybody, including those not even in the Soldier tree, but will also be mandatory. Upon logging on to a character for the first time after the Rage change goes live, players will find all their attribute and skill choices wiped, and they'll be able to put all the points they've earned back into their builds as they see fit. This isn't the kind of respec you can save for a later date. They've also specified some of the details of the new Rage ability, including the definition of fast cast (a much quicker cast time) and the logic behind the abilities granted at the different levels.Did you notice what's still missing? Yeah, an ETA. Make with the patching already!
Tabula Rasa Rage nerf, free respec for all
After Tabula Rasa forums and general chat have been flooded with rumors of an impending nerf to the Soldier's Rage ability. The discrepancy between the buff to damage Rage gives in practice, what it says in the tooltip, and what the designers originally intended has been the cause of a lot of speculation and debate. As it exists, you get a 105% buff to damage on the first pump alone, an extraordinary boost to damage for one paltry ability point. Destination Games' lead designer Paul Sage has finally put the conversation to rest today, announcing that an impending patch will be put on the PTR soon that will nerf Rage back into the realm of reality.The fix will make Rage a fast cast ability (it currently has a two second casting time) and has modified the buffs as follows: Rage 1: 30% damage self buff Rage 2: 30% damage buff w/squad members Rage 3: 40% damage self buff – 10% resist bonuses Rage 4: 40% damage buff w/squad members Rage 5: 50% damage buff w/squad members – 10% resist bonuses Players will all receive a free respec in accordance with the change. Needless to say, we're quit excited to see how this change will work out when it goes live. Maybe we'll see more specialists!
Tabula Rasa players ask: where's the rage?
One of the biggest questions that Tabula Rasa players have had since the new patch went out on the public test realm has been: what happened to the nerf to Rage that the devs had been rumored to be talking about? Rage is an attack enhancement for those in the Soldier tree that, when fully pumped, offers a temporary 100% buff to damage output. Outside of maybe Training: Weapons, Rage is probably the most ubiquitous skill choice people take, and is almost directly responsible for the huge imbalance between the Soldier and Specialist trees. Destination Games had been proposing a reduction of the damage buff down to 25%, but it was conspicuously absent from the patch notes.We still haven't heard anything official from the developers themselves, but the rumor so far has been pervasive. We weren't able to track down the original source of the rumor, though threads discussing it can be found on most RGTR forums. It's something that makes sense from a balance standpoint and that is the topic du jour in general chat, so we'll see if we can't get any official word. In the meantime, keep an eye on the patch note pages to see if any incremental updates pop up on the PTR.
id admits Motorstorm inspirations for Rage
Think id's upcoming Rage looks a lot like Motorstorm? Well, the similarities are intentional. In an interview with Shacknews, id's Todd Hollenshead and Tim Willits talks about incorporating elements of Motorstorm into their genre-mixing FPS game. "There's obviously the first person shooting, then there are the driving games that are more arcadey. For me, I'm not a big Ridge Racer fan. The driving isn't going to be like that, it's going to be more like Motorstorm, more like Burnout. I really want people, when they play the game, to say, 'You know, it wasn't what I expected from id, but I had a great time doing it.'"We're intrigued by id's upcoming shooter -- if only because it's a huge departure for them. We're anxiously waiting for more.[Thanks, Joe!]
